Outpost Firewall PRO Review

There are many firewalls on the market and that really puzzles users. What product should I go with? Why should I choose this software over other ones? Will it satisfy me?

Complicating the decision process, every developer promises "100% protection", "the most advanced technology" and "the best product". But how do users, and most are not experts in technology and security, separate the chaff from the grain?

The only way to choose a firewall is to know what you need from that kind of software. We here, at Agnitum, believe that a personal firewall should meet the following requirements: Security, Privacy, Control and Ease of Use. With that in mind from the start we created Outpost Personal Firewall, a free, powerful, personal firewall for Windows with features found only in high-end, corporate firewalls. A product that satisfies all your needs in firewall software.

Security

It is obvious that all security related products should provide security. You wouldn't buy an antivirus system that catches only 50% of the worms that arrive in your e-mail inbox. The same is true of firewalls. A firewall should protect against every known threat from the Net.

We all know there is no such thing as 100% security, but of all the personal firewalls on the market, Outpost Personal Firewall comes closest. Outpost filters every know virus, worm, and trojan out of your emails. It also puts your computer into Stealth Mode, making it invisible to crackers and blocking attacks and intrusions from hackers. Outpost also keeps you protected against new attacks by updating its information frequently with a special utility.

Privacy

When you surf the Web your browser can reveal to the web sites you visit such personal info as: your location and who your ISP is, your surfing habits (previous and even next sites you visit), it can also save on your computer special cookie files that enable web site operators to monitor user preferences for the purpose of direct advertising. Our personal privacy is being repeatedly threatened. Do we now need to buy privacy tools, personal proxies and other software to safeguard our privacy? Fortunately for users, Outpost Personal Firewall is not your typical firewall.

Outpost not only secures your computer from attacks, it also protects your privacy. It prevents your browser from sending your personal information to the bad guys, blocks web sites' attempts to gather information about your browsing habits and guarantees your peace of mind from any other invasion of your privacy from the Internet. In other words, with Outpost you don't just get the best firewall around, you get an effective privacy tool as well.

Control

Today's children are using computers before they learn to write. Computing and the Internet is for the younger and younger. Just imagine the kind of adult web sites your kids can happen upon. This brings us to the third requirement of a personal firewall—control over your computers. You should be able to prevent your kids or your employees (or anyone else) from doing things with your computer that you don't want done.

Outpost Personal Firewall can protect your children from illegal and/or inappropriate web sites. Businesses can control the content allowed to be viewed by its employees. Advanced computer owners have complete flexibility to fine-tune their system's firewall protection.

Ease of use

At first, personal firewalls were widely criticized for their unfriendly and complex interfaces. Most firewalls today have not evolved from those roots. Rookie and even advanced users find most firewalls too awkward and complex.

Outpost was developed so even rookie users would enjoy using it. Outpost looks and acts like Windows Explorer so there is almost no learning curve.

Plug-ins and Open architecture

As well as those features mentioned above, Agnitum Outpost is the first personal firewall that supports plug-ins and open architecture, taking it far ahead of other firewalls.

A plug-in is an independent module that can be inserted into a program to expand that program's capabilities. With this technology, third-party developers can easily enhance the functionality of Outpost by creating and distributing their own plug-ins per Outpost's Open Architecture.

Currently, Outpost built-in plug-ins provide:

Full privacy protection

Management of active elements in e-mail and WWW pages

Banner advertisement and pop-up window blocking

Protection of e-mail from dangerous attachments and worms

Every type of port scanning detection

Internet attack blocking (nuke, etc.)

Content filtering for parental control

DNS caching to speed connection times

System requirements and pricing info

Outpost runs on virtually any computer setup. So you can take Outpost with you when you upgrade your computer or connection, no matter what connection type you are using (dial-up, DSL, ISDN, Cable, T1 or Satellite), what MS Windows version (98, 98SE, ME, NT, 2000, 2003 and XP) or what programs you are running (browser, online game, web server, etc).

Outpost is available in two versions: Free and Pro. The Free version of Outpost Firewall offers a basic protection solution for casual web surfers and low budget systems. The Pro version has several features not available in the Free version and is more advanced in security, control and ease of use. Outpost Firewall Free users are not provided with personal Support Service or any other advice via email. Compared to Outpost Free, the Pro version is far more improved, providing free updates and premium support service from Agnitum. The single license for Outpost Pro costs $39.95; significant discounts are available for family (up to five computers) and business licenses.